Category Archives: United States Congress

Many people are wondering exactly how the sweeping “Tax Cuts and Jobs Act” will impact their personal tax returns and what the law might mean for agriculture. I’m no tax law expert, but luckily, I know someone who is! I was fortunate to have Kristine Tidgren from the Iowa State Center for Ag Law and Taxation join me on a recent episode of the Ag Law in the Field Podcast to discuss the ins and outs of the new tax reform law. You can listen to the podcast… Read More →

We’ve made it to another Friday! I want to welcome those of you who attended the Five States Beef Conference in Perryton, Texas last week and are joining us from that presentation. Here are some of the ag law stories in the news this week. *Deadline to begin reporting agricultural emissions extended by EPA awaiting court mandate. You may remember from this prior blog post that in April, a federal court held that federal regulations exempting agricultural operations from reporting emissions of hazardous substances under two federal environmental… Read More →

Happy Friday! This week I enjoyed the opportunity to travel to Floydata and visit with producers at their ag field day about one of my favorite things…agricultural law hot topics. To those of you joining from that meeting, welcome! Here are some of the major ag law stories in the news this week. * Congress Passes GMO Labeling Law. Last week, Congress passed a federal law that will impose federal standards on the labeling of foods made with genetically modified ingredients. [Read bill text here.] The law will… Read More →

Happy New Year! I hope you all had a wonderful holiday and are ready to tackle 2016. I kicked off my year speaking to a great group of folks at the Blacklands Income Growth Conference in Waco on Tuesday. I had an absolute blast discussing agricultural law issues and answering great questions from the audience. To those of you joining us from the BIG Conference, welcome! Here are some of the ag law stories that have been in the news recently. * Big Bend Pipeline Project Closer To… Read More →

We have reached another Friday! This week I was on the road to speak at the Swisher County Ag Day on the top legal developments in 2015. Thanks to John Vialba and Glenda Gibson for all their hard work to put on a great event and for inviting me to participate. For those of you interested in that topic, stay tuned next week for a blog recapping the year in ag law! To those of you joining the blog from the Swisher County Ag Day, welcome! Here are… Read More →

Last week I made the journey to the Hill Country for the Bennett Trust Land Stewardship Conference, held in Kerrville. Many kudos to organizer, Larry Redmond, for putting together an outstanding program! To those of you new to the blog from the Conference, welcome! Here are some ag law stories in the news this week. *Texas Supreme Court Will Not Hear Bragg v. Edwards Aquifer Authority. Big water law news happened today when the Texas Supreme Court denied petitions to consider an appeal in Bragg v. Edwards Aquifer Authority. Stay… Read More →

*This article is not a substitute for the advice of an attorney.* It has been a chilly week across most of Texas! I hope everyone is staying safe and warm. Here are a few of the major ag law stories making news this week. * Congress Passed the Farm Bill. This was the big news of the week out of Washington, DC. President Obama is expected to sign the bill into law on Friday. A few articles discussing the bill’s passage may be read here and here and here. … Read More →

**This article is not a substitute for the advice of an attorney.** Here are a look at some of the stories related to agricultural law in the news this week. 1. A bill, titled the Water Rights Protection Act, has been introduced in the United States Congress that would prohibit the US Secretary of Agriculture and Secretary of the Interior from conditioning any permit, lease, or other right to use federal property upon the granting of a water right to the United States. [Read proposed bill here.] The American… Read More →

**This article is not a substitute for the advice of an attorney.** Although several of this week’s major Texas court cases were discussed in yesterday’s blog post, here are some additional ag law stories making headlines this final week of August. 1. Even Congressmen are confused over the EPA’s plans to enforce the Spill, Prevention, Containment, and Countermeasure (“SPCC”) rule against farmers. Senators Inhofe and Pryor recently wrote a letter to the EPA “requesting clarification” of the EPA’s interpretation of its own authority to begin retroactive enforcement of the SPCC rule on… Read More →

**This article is not a substitute for the advice of an attorney.** It was a busy week for ag law news. Here are a few of the stories making headlines this week. * This week Governor Perry announced his three appointees to the Texas Water Development Board. The make-up of the Board changed after the passing of House Bill 4, which modified the board from 6 volunteer members to 3 members employed by the state. Each member will be paid $150,000 per year. Governor Perry’s appointees are Chairman Carols… Read More →

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